Verdi was commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in Venice to write an opera, but finding the right subject took some time, and the composer worked with the inexperienced Piave in shaping first one and then another drama by Hugo into an acceptable libretto. As musicologist Roger Parker notes, the composer "intervened on several important points, insisting for example that the role of Ernani be sung by a tenor (rather than by a contralto as had originally been planned).
Librettist | Francesco Maria Piave (based on the play Hernani by Victor Hugo) |
Date of composition | 1844 |
Premiered | 1844, March 9th (Teatro La Fenice) in Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy |
First published | 1844 |
Type | Opera |
Spoken language | Italian |
Instruments |
Orchestra
Chorus/Choir Voice (Tenor) - Ernani, the bandit Voice (Baritone) - Don Carlo, later Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Voice (Bass) - Don Ruy Gomez de Silva Voice (Soprano) - Elvira, his niece and fiancée Voice (Soprano) - Giovanna, her nurse Voice (Tenor) - Don Riccardo, Don Carlo's equerry Voice (Bass) - Jago, Don Ruy's equerry |
Arrangements |
●
Franz Liszt: Paraphrase de concert sur Ernani I, S. 431a
● Franz Liszt: Paraphrase de concert sur Ernani II, S. 432 |
Autotranslations beta |
Giuseppe Verdi: Ernani "Dramma lirico in quattro atti" Giuseppe Verdi: Ernani "Dramma lirico in quattro atti" Giuseppe Verdi: Ernani "Dramma lirico in quattro atti" |